Max eighth in Monza’s third free practice
Published on 03 September 2016 by Mike Motilall
Max Verstappen finished in eighth on the Saturday morning during the final free practice in the run up to the Italian Grand Prix. On the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, the Mercedes-drivers were once again leading the pack. Lewis Hamilton was slightly faster than Nico Rosberg, who in turn stayed ahead of Ferrari-driver Sebastian Vettel.
Before the start of the third free practice, Pirelli announces that the teams are allowed to run the tyres with a lower pressure. Extensive analyses of Friday’s data is what triggered the decision. Esteban Ocon is the first to get things going with an installation lap when the lights turn green at the end of the pit lane at 11.00 o’ clock. However, it is Esteban Gutierrez who is the first to get a time on the clocks after some ten minutes.
Max is on track shortly after on a set of softs on his RB12. Just as the youngster is preparing for a fast lap, Romain Grosjean spins at Ascari. Triggering a virtual safety car. Grosjean fails to leave where he met his Waterloo, ending his practice session.
When the virtual safety car-situation ends, Max and his team mate Ricciardo are almost evenly matched, but with the Ozzie being on the super-soft. After twenty minutes, the both Red Bull Racing-drivers are at the front of the field. This doesn’t last too long, as not much later both Mercedes take over control. They do their fast lap times on the soft compound tyres.
After his first run, Max is in the pits for quite some time. With about less than half an hour left, he returns on track with a new set of the super-softs on his Red Bull. During his fast lap, he runs into traffic and loses some tenths which puts him in sixth.
In the final half hour of the session, both Mercedes-drivers are taking turns leading the pack and are more than a second away from the rest of the field. Max is briefly in the pits again and continues on with the super-soft tyres.
With fifteen minutes remaining on the clock, only the Mercedes and both Toro Rosso’s are on track. The waiting is on teams that are going to simulate qualifying. At Red Bull Racing we see both drivers, not much later, on a used set of soft tyres; which doesn’t lead to any improvement of their times.
Behind the Mercedes we see both Ferrari’s and both Williams’ drivers who have by now settled themselves in front of both Red Bulls. Max informs his team on the radio that his car is moving too much and when the flag drops, Jolyon Palmer takes a ride in the gravel trap at Parabolica.
Italian Grand Prix - Monza - Saturday 3 September
Results Free Practice 3 01 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:22.008 14 02 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:22.401 +0.393s 17 03 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:22.946 +0.938s 13 04 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:23.149 +1.141s 12 05 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams Mercedes 1:23.500 +1.492s 20 06 19 Felipe Massa Williams Mercedes 1:23.647 +1.639s 19 07 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:23.709 +1.701s 23 08 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 1:23.740 +1.732s 21 09 11 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes 1:23.917 +1.909s 20 10 21 Esteban Gutierrez Haas Ferrari 1:24.034 +2.026s 15 11 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India Mercedes 1:24.041 +2.033s 21 12 22 Jenson Button McLaren Honda 1:24.104 +2.096s 11 13 55 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso Ferrari 1:24.240 +2.232s 17 14 8 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 1:24.463 +2.455s 4 15 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:24.533 +2.525s 13 16 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari 1:24.542 +2.534s 20 17 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda 1:24.658 +2.650s 12 18 12 Felipe Nasr Sauber Ferrari 1:24.715 +2.707s 19 19 20 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1:24.793 +2.785s 12 20 26 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso Ferrari 1:24.845 +2.837s 17 21 94 Pascal Wehrlein MRT Mercedes 1:24.893 +2.885s 19 22 31 Esteban Ocon MRT Mercedes 1:24.938 +2.930s 15
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